Repositionable self stick paint swatch for testing samples of paint on a wall

ABSTRACT

A swatch sheet which is thin and pliable used for testing paint samples allows for paint to be placed on the viewable surface and prevents curling of the surface. A unique combination of a latex impregnated saturated paper, an acrylic microsphere adhesive and a release liner are provided, allowing for a substantially thin and pliable swatch to be applied on a flat or any other contoured or corner surface and be easily removed therefrom.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This divisional patent application claims domestic priority to priorpatent application Ser. No. 13/037,743, filed Mar. 1, 2011 andprovisional patent application Ser. No. 61/309,551, filed Mar. 2, 2010,both of which are incorporated herein by reference

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to a new and improved system for allowing peopleto utilize a self stick sheet of paper or swatch, to which paint isapplied to test paint samples and see how the color works in the exactspace or multiple spaces to which the swatch or swatches are attached.

Selecting appropriate paint samples for painting home and offices andother places is often difficult because the paint sample in the storeoften is misrepresentative of how the paint will actually look on a wallat a specific location in view of the light and other environmentalconditions existing thereat.

There exists in the prior art a patent application filed by Julie Boney,Ser. No. 11/827,645, entitled Portable Apparatus for Visualizing andPracticing Wall Finishes, Publication No. US 2008/0014561, filed Jul.12, 2007. This patent application describes a product in which theconsumer is enabled to visualize and practice color, finish technique ortexture by applying paint to a primed first surface with a second rearsurface permitting the substrate to be attached to a flat mountingsurface, such as a wall.

A problem with this and other prior art is that merely using a substratewith a primed first surface and a second surface having a means tosecure the substrate to a mounting surface produces a product whichtends to curl especially at its edges. In order to eliminate such curl,one approach in the prior art is to use significant adhesive along theedges, but such an approach interferes with the ability of the prior artdevices to easily be removed and repositioned, as desired. Additionally,since the curling occurs because of the interaction of the paint on asurface, the prior art does not effectively deal with this problem.

The product of this invention can be sold in sheets of various sizes orin rolls, and in whatever form a manufacturer desires. Its intended useis that the consumer will paint on the paper anywhere and place theswatch sheet in an area reasonably proximate to the location where thepaint sample will be used. Additionally, the sheet could be placed on awall without paint and the paint can be applied while on the wall. Ineither case, the consumer has to opportunity to observe how the paintworks in the specific location desired and remove the swatch from thewall after the sample is observed, and the swatch can be removed andreapplied elsewhere.

Applicant has addressed the above curling problem by providing a stayflat sheet which can accept paint and which controls absorption andprevents paint passing through the painted surface and a self-stickadhesive rear surface attached to a liner, so that paint is appliedwhile the liner is attached to the swatch. The liner is thereafterremoved, permitting the painted stay flat sheet to be placed on a wallor wherever appropriate. It will remain flat and be removable to berepositionable elsewhere as desired with no residue left on the wall.

A unique aspect of the present invention is the provision of a stay flatsheet which prevents curling when the sheet is painted and subsequentlyattached to a wall surface. The novel sheet is thin enough so as to bepliable, bend into and around corners, around moldings and otherwise beadaptable to almost any uneven surface to which paint is to be applied.The swatch sheet of this invention is pliable in orthogonal directions.

In accordance with the present invention, paint is first applied to thesheet by the consumer, and the release liner is removed from the rear ofthe sheet transferring adhesive to the rear face of the sheet allowingthe sheet to be placed flat against a wall, yet be removed andrepositioned elsewhere as desired.

The stay flat sheet may either be of a conventional stay flat paperproduct, not used for this purpose or any other stay flat sheet whichhas similar characteristics of preventing paint from migrating throughthe painted surface. The stay flat sheet, preferably, comprises a lateximpregnated saturated paper which controls absorption and does not allowpaint to pass therethrough. Therefore, when paint is applied, as taughtby this invention to the swatch, the swatch product will not curl. Suchstay flat paper conventionally is used in the printing processes, andthe present invention takes advantage of such properties to prevent suchcurling.

The stay flat sheet further incorporates a rear adhesive and releasepaper. The removable swatch sheet of this invention further has a rearsurface of the stay flat sheet to which is applied an acrylicmicrosphere adhesive and a stay flat release liner, preferably generallyknown as a standard 50 lb stay flat liner. The release liner is removedfrom the rear surface, and the acrylic microsphere adhesive remains onthe rear of the stay flat sheet permitting easy applying of the sheet toany surface as desired and easy removal therefrom.

The adhesive is an important element of this invention in that it mustbe such so that when the release liner is removed from the rear surface,the adhesive is transferred to the rear surface of the resultant sheetso that the sheet can be placed flat on a wall or surface, removedtherefrom and repositioned in any other location.

This invention has a number of advantages. First of all, the stay flatsheet can be applied in situ to interior or exterior surfaces and onsurfaces which are not only flat but also corners due to the relativelythin and pliable nature of the invention. It will stay flush to the wallso that it appears as part of the wall and one viewing how the colorworks, in situ, has the best vantage point for such observation.

A consumer or designer can check multiple colors at one time, comparingthem in an easy and simple fashion in situ so as to make decisions oncolor coordination or other aspects of situations in which painting isrequired.

The present invention may also include a place on the back of the linerfor the customer to initial approval and for any person working with thecustomer such as a decorator or designer to also sign an approval so asto maintain paper records of color choices made as projects proceed.

It is also possible that the swatch could be painted at any location,and a decorator or designer could send multiple variations to be triedin situ by the consumer without the decorator or designer needing totravel and to physically be present when such swatches are applied.

While the present invention is described for checking paint colors insitu, such a non-bleed top surface could be used for more frivolouspurposes, such as receiving crayon designs, glitter, glue, pen andpencil drawings, all of which can be suitably applied to the top surfacewithout bleeding therethrough and attractively attached wherever desiredand, yet, may be simply removed from the surface to which the swatch isattached.

In addition to the Boney patent application above, other prior artdocuments are US Patent Application Publication 2007/0122612 to Young etal.; US Patent Application Publication 2002/009221 to DaRif et al.; USPublication 2003/0032907 to Lerner et al.; US Patent ApplicationPublication 2008/0014561 to Boney; and U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,379,696 and4,061,521 to Lerner. All such prior art is incorporated herein byreference.

It should be understood that the preferred embodiment was described toprovide the best illustration of the principles of the invention and itspractical application to thereby enable one of ordinary skill in the artto utilize the invention in various embodiments and with variousmodifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated. All suchmodifications and variations are within the scope of the invention asdetermined by the appended claims when interpreted in accordance withthe breadth to which they are fairly legally and equitably entitled.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A removable swatch sheet for temporaryattachment to a surface for temporarily viewing a paint color painted onsaid swatch sheet, said swatch sheet comprising a multilayerconstruction comprising a paintable stay flat non-curling multilayerconstruction comprising a top and a bottom layer, said top layer of saidmultilayer construction comprising a paintable surface preventing paintabsorption therethrough, said paint color being painted on said toplayer, an adhesive surface comprising a layer of adhesive applied to thebottom of said top layer, wherein said adhesive comprises repositionablepressure sensitive adhesive, a release layer attached as the bottomlayer of said multilayer construction and attached to said adhesivesurface, wherein said release layer comprises a stay flat liner, saidswatch sheet being thin and pliable to be attachable to non-flat andflat surfaces, said swatch sheet attaching flush to a flat surface, saidpainted swatch sheet being removable and repositionable on said surface.2. A removable swatch sheet as set forth in claim 1, wherein said paintmay be painted on said swatch sheet when said swatch is not attached tosaid surface.
 3. A removable swatch sheet as set forth in claim 1,wherein said paint may be painted on said swatch sheet when said swatchsheet is attached to said surface.
 4. A removable swatch sheet as setforth in claim 1, wherein said swatch sheet may be attached to and bendinto and around corners of a wall and ceiling.
 5. A removable swatchsheet as set forth in claim 1, wherein said paint is latex paint.
 6. Aremovable swatch sheet as set forth in claim 1, wherein said releaselayer comprises a 50 lb stay flat liner.